Building Companies and Re-building Lives with Private Equity Impresario Bryan Cressey
Dr. Chris Stout
LinkedIn Top Voice | Best Selling Author | Adventurer | Startup Whisperer | (Accidental) Humanitarian | APA's "Rockstar" Psychologist | éminence Grise
Have you ever wondered how the world of private equity and venture capital works? What are the ways to get started, how do you know what companies hold promise, how do you build and manage your own company and hold high standards and provide high performance results, year after year?
In this episode, Bryan Cressey, Partner and Founder of the health service private equity firm Cressey & Company discusses how his firm has invested in 13 companies with a valuation of about $2 billion. Bryan is one of the most authentic people I know. He also discusses how he balances family, humanitarian work, athletics, writing, travel, and even acting with building and running one of the most successful boutique private equity firms in the country, as well as a nascent venture capital firm with former Senator William Frist, MD.
Which should be no surprise, as he holds two post-graduate degrees from Harvard—one in law and the other in business. Bryan is a member of the Dean’s Advisory Board at Harvard Law School and he Chairs the Harvard Law School Leadership Council of Chicago. He serves on more boards than I can count.
He began his career at First Chicago Equity Group and next served as Principal of Golder, Thoma, Cressey, Rauner, otherwise known as GTCR, which in 2004 had raised $5.3 billion and became one of the largest private equity firms in the United States. Bryan has been recognized as a venture capital pioneer. He is also an amazing humanitarian, which we will also do a deep dive into.
His work and accomplishments have been recognized by Forbes and Time magazines, he’s a well-deserved member of the Chicago Business Hall of Fame, as well as member of the Chicago Area Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame, he is a Stanley C. Golder Medal award winner from the Illinois Venture Capital Association, and perhaps most notably, he is a recipient of the Healthcare Lifetime Achievement award from HCPEA.
Bryan is a robust exemplar of truly living his life in full. I think you’ll learn a great deal in this inspiring and information-packed episode.
Listen on iTunes (please subscribe, leave a rating, and help us make “New & Noteworthy”) or download here. You can also listen on Overcast, SoundCloud or Stitcher, as well. Here are the show notes.
The “Living a Life in Full” podcast is the conversation you always wanted to have with that person who gave an amazing TED talk, or the author of one your favorite books, or that inspirational Olympian you always wanted to know more about.
This show is for the intellectually curious. You want to not just know more about the interesting and the innovative, but also what makes them tick, and maybe even what makes them laugh. It’s graduate-level conversations with those making a difference in the world and the lives of others.
This show brings you new ideas and approaches so you can live a life in full.
The show is equal parts information and inspiration, but without the aphorisms and Pablum. We cover a wide range of topics in an engaging way—from Burning Man to The Renaissance Weekend, from the United Nations to top universities, Nobel Laureates to astronauts—we have an amazing Rolodex.
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If you'd like to learn more or connect, please do at https://DrChrisStout.com. You can follow me on LinkedIn, or find my Tweets as well. And goodies and tools are available via https://ALifeInFull.org. If you liked this article, you may also like:
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